Radio România Internațional

Tag: supreme defence council

  • December 28, 2018

    December 28, 2018

    SUPREME DEFENCE COUNCIL – Romanias President Klaus Iohannis announced on Friday, fresh from the Supreme Defense Council meeting, that he has extended the mandate of general Nicolae Ciucă as chief of staff. The mandate of general Ciucă expires on December 31, and Romania cant be left without an Army chief, president Iohannis has also said. He said he rejected the proposals made by the defense minister Gabriel Leş, on generals Ciucas successor, because they do not abide by the law. Earlier the line minister announced he will not extend general Ciucas mandate. The previous session of Romanias Supreme Defence Council was held on December 19, when the Council approved, among others, the army endowment plan for the 2019 – 2028 timeframe, as well as the forces and means that Romania will contribute to missions and operations on theatres of operations abroad next year. 1,902 Romanian troops will take action on international theatres of operations, that is 127 more troops than in 2018, and some 759 military and policemen from the Romanian Interior Ministry will be sent on EU, OSCE, NATO and UN missions. Romania will further contribute troops to the NATO-led Operation Resolute Support in Afghanistan and will maintain the level of troops deployed as part of allied operations in the Western Balkans. As a first, a detachment of cargo and rescue helicopters will take part in the UN mission in Mali.



    GOVERNMENT – Romanian PM Viorica Dăncilă is today chairing the last government session of the year 2018. The agenda of the meeting covers such issues as a draft law on accepting the changes made by the European Council to the electoral procedure for the EP elections. The novelty is that “Member States may provide for the possibilities of advance voting, postal voting and electronic and internet voting. Where they do so, they must adopt measures sufficient to ensure in particular the reliability of the result, the secrecy of the vote and the protection of personal data. Referring to Romanias 2019 budget, Viorica Dăncilă has said it might be adopted in the first government session in January 2019 and submitted to Parliament for approval, so that it could be adopted by the end of January.



    ANTI-CORRUPTION – The prosecutors of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate in Bucharest, DNA, in early November closed the file on the EADS contract, which provided for securing Romanias frontiers for 750 million Euros, the aforementioned institution has announced earlier today. DNA has announced this solution has been embraced because the deed is not included in the criminal law and there is no evidence indicating that a person has committed crime. In May 2004, the French group EADS signed with the Romanian Interior Ministry a contract to secure the countrys borders, because Romania wanted to join the EU and tightening border control was a prerequisite condition. The first investigation was started in 2005, against some persons who were employed by the Interior Ministry back then. The verification started following a notification sent by the leadership of the Interior Ministry, according to whom public funds had allegedly been used inappropriately, and those taking part in the negotiations did not observe some legal terms, and the value of the contract to tighten border control had been overestimated. Some of the names involved in the case include former ministers Marian Săniuță, Vasile Blaga and Dan Nica.



    BORDER TRAFFIC – The Romanian border was crossed by over one million people between December 21 and 26, during the Christmas mini-holiday, registering a 10% increase as compared to the same period of 2017, the Border Police has announced. The most transited border was that in the west of the country, where some 450,000 border crossings were reported. 260,000 other people chose to fly to and from Romania during this time span. Also, 159,000 people crossed the border from and into the Republic of Moldova, and 68,000 others from and into Bulgaria.



    HANDBALL – Romanias mens handball team tonight take on the similar team of the Czech Republic, in a fixture counting towards the 4 Nations Cup semifinals trophy staged in Poland. In the other semifinal, host country team faces Japan. On Saturday, the defeated teams are pitted against each other, while the winners will be pitched against each other as well. In early 2019, the national squad coached by Spaniard Manuel Montoya and the former international handballer Eliodor Voica will have a training session in Slovakia. A tournament will follow suit, with host country Slovakia and the Netherlands taking part. We recall Romanias mens national handball team failed to qualify for the World Championship due in January 2019 and jointly hosted by Germany and Denmark. However, Romanias womens national handball team has already secured their participation in the 2019 edition of the World Championships, to be hosted by Japan. We recall Romania came in 4th at the recently-held European championships in France.

  • The Week in Review, October 15-21

    The Week in Review, October 15-21

    Government reshuffle in Bucharest


    Three new ministers proposed by the Social Democratic Party, the senior member of the ruling coalition in Bucharest, were sworn in on Tuesday in the presence of the countrys president Klaus Iohannis. The ministers in question are Paul Stanescu for the development ministry, Felix Stroe for the transport ministry and Marius Nica for the ministry of European funds. They replaced Sevil Shhaideh, Rovana Plumb and Razvan Cuc, who have resigned. Razvan Cuc was blamed for his ministrys lack of results, while Sevil Shhaideh and Rovana Plumb are under investigation by the National Anticorruption Directorate. The anticorruption body says that in 2013, through the concerted action of persons holding public office, part of the Danubes Belina Island and Pavel Branch were illegally transferred from state property to that of the Teleorman county and under the management of the Teleorman County Council before being leased out, again illegally, to a private company a few days later. Prosecutors say the two properties belonging to public domain could not become the property of a county council through a government order but only through law. A minister of the environment and climate change at the time, Rovana Plumb is accused of complicity to abuse of office. Given that she is also a Member of Parliament, her fellow MPs had to vote on Tuesday on a request by the Anticorruption Directorate to have her immunity lifted to allow the start of prosecution. MPs, however, voted against the Directorates request with only 99 yes and 183 no votes.



    Decisions of the Countrys Supreme Defence Council


    The Countrys Supreme Defence Council chaired by president Klaus Iohannis met this week and approved Romanias participation in the European Unions initiative in the area of defence. Bucharest thus intends to take part in ten projects forming part of the PESCO Permanent Structured Cooperation programme, which gives the member states that fulfil advanced criteria in the field of military capabilities and wish to take on additional commitments the possibility to cooperate in a structured way. The issue of common defence was also discussed in Brussels this week at the autumn meeting of the EU Council, where Romania was represented by president Klaus Iohannis. The latter agreed with the EU Council president Donald Tusk that the central Romanian city of Sibiu would host an informal meeting of EU leaders on 9th May 2019, on Europe Day, to discuss the future of the Union after the UKs departure. Romania is to hold the rotating presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2019.



    Trade Winds, in Bucharest


    Romania has a lot to offer in areas such as agriculture, information technology and industrial production, prime minister Mihai Tudose said on Thursday in Bucharest at the Trade Winds 2017 US trade mission. He mentioned Romania’s sustained economic growth, its partnership with the European Union and NATO and its 20-year long strategic partnership with the United States. The US ambassador to Bucharest Hans Klemm said Romania is Washington’s best ally and friend in the region and pointed out this country needs to ensure a predictable and transparent business environment to attract investors. Europe and the US have common interests and can play an important role at global level, in the field of innovation, job creation, IT, advanced production systems and online trade, Dale Tasharski, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe International Trade Administration U.S. Department of Commerce has said. The American official has also said that the US has picked South-eastern Europe for investment, because it has 60 million consumers, a cumulated GDP of 500 billion dollars, a favourable geographic and demographic position, a developing middle class and a strong entrepreneurial class. Last year, trade between Romania and the US stood at 2 billion dollars. Trade Winds is the biggest trade promotion event organised by the US government aimed at bringing together American and foreign businesses. Its tenth edition, which is under way until the 24th of October in South-Eastern Europe, has at its centre the Romanian capital.



    The Romanian minority in Ukraine


    Members of the ethnic Romanian community in Cernauti, western Ukraine, protested on Tuesday in front of the Regional Administration headquarters, and staged what they called the “funerals of the Romanian language. It was their way of protesting against the education law that drastically restricts the national minorities rights to education in their mother tongue. Under this piece of legislation, ethnic minority children can only study in their mother tongue in nursery and primary school, after which education exclusively in the Ukrainian language becomes compulsory. On Wednesday, in a telephone talk with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko, Romanian president Klaus Iohannis strongly expressed his discontent with the new education law in the neighbouring country. Ukraine is home to almost half a million ethnic Romanians. Iohannis called on his Ukrainian counterpart to make sure that his country respects the commitments made before the Romanian side in terms of observing the international norms and standards in the field of minority rights protection.



  • March 20, 2017

    March 20, 2017

    DEFENSE — The country’s Supreme Defence Council is convening tomorrow in Bucharest in a meeting chaired by President Klaus Iohannis. The main topics on the agenda are outfitting the army and Romania’s presence at the NATO Summit in Brussels, to be held over May 24-25. Council members will also discuss progress reported last year as part of the program to upgrade and develop the army by 2026, as well as other national security topics. At the previous meeting of January 31, the Council gave a favourable opinion on the budgets of institutions operating in the field of national security, as per the state budget for 2017.



    DECREES — The Government’s decrees no. 6 and 9, which triggered the opposition’s vocal criticism, are this week being debated in the Chamber of Deputies after being passed by the Senate. Decree no. 6 refers to the funding of the National Local Development Program, while decree no. 9 eliminates spending ceilings for public authorities. The Liberals in opposition claim the decrees are aimed at helping channel huge sums of money to the Social-Democratic Party’s political supporters, also nullifying fundamental articles in the law on fiscal accountability. In turn, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu said the funds earmarked under decree no. 6 come in response to the high number of applications for funding filed by local authorities, including opposition mayors, and thus called on the opposition to support Romania’s development projects.



    MILITARY EXERCISE — Over 1,200 Romanian and United States military are these days taking part in the Spring Storm 2017 joint military exercise involving naval, air and ground forces. Today’s training sheet includes launching anti-air missiles, mortar firing and infantry fire practice. The exercise, which will come to an end on March 22, is part of the Romanian-American Strategic Partnership action plan and reflects NATO’s efforts to ensure the security of its allies in the Black Sea area. The aim of the exercise is to increase the interoperability of participating forces. The exercise employs complex defence tactics carried out on the Romanian Black Sea coast and urban areas, with naval, ground and air support.



    FRANCOPHONIE — The Romanian Foreign Ministry marks the International Francophonie Day by means of two diplomatic events open to the public. In central Bucharest, authorities will unveil the statue of Leopold Sedar Senghor, the co-founder of the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation (ACCT), the precursor of present-day International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), and a well-established political and cultural figure of Senegal. The second event will be held this evening, when the Group of Francophone Embassies, Delegations and Institutions in Romania will organize the Francophonie Awards gala. Apart from other events held in Bucharest, Romania’s embassies abroad are organizing various events on this occasion. The International Francophonie Day is celebrated every year on March 20, the day when the institutional basis of La Francophonie was laid in 1970. At present, OIF totals 84 member and observer states and governments from across the world. In a 2014 report, the world’s French-speaking population was estimated to stand at some 274 million people. Romania has been member of the OIF since 1993 and hosted the 11th Francophonie Summit in 2006.



    MEETING — German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met on Sunday in Hanover, central Germany, where they argued in favour of free trade and open and free markets, as a response to Donald Trump protectionist economic policies, France Press reports. The meeting comes ahead of the opening of CeBIT, the world’s biggest computer expo, where this year Japan is a guest. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is on a tour of Europe, said economic can grow by means of inter-connectivity, with Japan being a direct beneficiary of free trade and an advocate of open systems, along with Germany.



    FOOTBALL — Romania’s national team today assembled in Bucharest to train ahead of Sunday’s match against Denmark, to be played in Cluj, north-western Romania. The match counts towards preliminary Group E as part of the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup to be hosted by Russia. After trouncing Armenia 5-nil, drawing 1-all against Montenegro at home and nil-all against Kazakhstan away from home, losing nil-3 against Poland in Bucharest, Romania is ranked 4th in the group tables, with 5 points. We recall that Romania is coached by German Cristoph Daum, the first foreign coach in the history of the Romanian team, after last year’s subpar performance at the 2016 European Championships in France. (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • September 27

    September 27

    NATIONAL DEFENCE –Romania’s Supreme Defence Council, chaired by President Klaus Iohannis, convenes today in Bucharest. The agenda of the meeting covers such topics as the implementation of the decisions made at the NATO Summit in Warsaw, the latest developments in the Middle East and the implications for Romania and the main measures which are necessary to eliminate threats to national security caused by a massive flow of migrants and to maintain the public order and safety climate. Other topics on the agenda are the situation of those active in the defence industry, the evaluation of cyber security in public institutions in Romania, setting up and rendering operational the multinational brigade for developing and consolidating essential elements of the advanced allied presence as well as the state of the public healthcare system in Romania.



    ROMANIAN DIASPORA — Romania has been included in the top 20 of countries with the largest diapora, with some 3.4 million Romanian citizens living in a foreign country, a UN report based on figures released in 2015 shows. According to the UN World Migration Report, this is the second largest increase in a country’s diapora, 7.3% per year, and the highest increase in the number of migrants from a country which hasn’t faced war. Ranking first in terms of this increase is Syria, with 13.1%, and ranking third is Poland with 5.1%. At European level, it is for the first time that Romania has gone up to the 4th position, in terms of the total number of citizens who live abroad, following the UK, Poland and Germany. The Romanian diaspora accounts for 17% of Romania’s population, which stands at approximately 20 million people, according to the latest census, carried out in 2014.



    WASHINGTON — The two candidates to the US presidency, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, have confirmed the major split in their views over security and economic issues, in the first of the three televised debates held ahead of the presidential elections of November 8. Their dialogue was based mainly on plans regarding the economy, the taxation system and foreign policy. They contradicted each other on the role the US should play on the international stage and mutually contested each other’s capacity to lead the country. The only common point was the determination to fight terrorism, pundits note. The debate ended with the Democratic candidate’s urge to the population to go to the polls and with the Republican’s candidate pledge to support her, in case she wins the elections. According to Bloomberg, the first reactions on the financial markets are indicative of the fact that investors consider that Hillary Clinton is the winner of the debate.



    REP OF MOLDOVA — The EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn has announced in Chisinau that the EU will conditionally resume the financial assistance to the Republic of Moldova, a former Soviet state with a majority Romanian speaking population. Brussels is waiting for concrete results in the fight against corruption, in reforming the audio-visual and completing the investigation into the banking system fraud in the Republic of Moldova. EU’s further granting European financial support depends on Moldova’s signing an agreement with the IMF. In July, Moldova reached an agreement with the IMF, on a 170 million dollar loan. Later on, Romania’s Government unblocked and released the first tranche of a 150 million Euro loan. In another move, Commissioner Johannes Hahn has expressed hope that the presidential election of October 30 will be held in a democratic way, observing the national and international laws in the field.



    FEAST OF MUSIC — RadiRo Festival, organised by Radio Romania, continues today with a concert given by the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, which will perform pieces by Rachmaninoff and Schumann. Yesterday, the National Radio Orchestra under the baton of Cristian Macelaru and with cellist Razvan Suma as soloist received standing ovations. Another success was scored by the Radio Academic Choir and the Radio Children’s Choir, which performed Carl Orffs “Carmina Burana”, one of the best-known works of the last century. The festival, organised by Radio Romania, comes to an end on Saturday, October 1, and the concerts will also be aired live in the European Broadcasting Union network and the Asia-Pacific platform of public and private radio broadcasters. Now in its third edition, RadiRo is the only big European festival devoted exclusively to radio orchestras.



    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player, Simona Halep, WTA no.5, will meet Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova (WTA no. 41) in the eighth finals of the Wuhan Open in China, with approximately 2.5 million dollars in prize money up for grabs. Today Shvedova defeated Italian Roberta Vinci (WTA no.15), in the second round of the competition. Halep is fourth seeded in the Wuhan Open, after Angelique Kerber (WTA no.1), Garbine Muguruza (WTA no.3) and Agnieszka Radwanska (WTA no.4). (Translated by D. Vijeu)

  • September 26, UPDATE

    September 26, UPDATE

    RESIGNATION – Romanias President, Klaus Iohannis, has accepted the resignation tendered by the Director of the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service, Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, the Presidential Administration announced on Monday. According to the same source, general Silviu Predoiu will take over from Ungureanu, as interim director of the Service. Also on Monday, the Senate registered the request made by President Iohannis to declare vacant the position of Director of the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service. Ungureanu, former prime minister and foreign minister, became head of the Foreign Intelligence Service in June 2015, after being nominated by the President and validated by Parliament. That was Ungureanus second term as Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service, after the 2007-2012 tenure.



    SUPREME DEFENCE COUNCIL – In Bucharest, the Supreme Defence Council is to convene on Tuesday. The agenda includes topics like the implementation of the decisions made in the NATO Summit, which affect Romania, the Presidents spokesman announced on Monday. Another topic on the agenda is the state of the healthcare system in Romania. The previous meeting of the Supreme Defence Council was held in late July, two weeks after the NATO Summit in Warsaw.



    PROTESTS – Romanian justice minister, Raluca Pruna, said on Monday, fresh from the talks she had had with penitentiary workers, that its regrettable that laws are adopted in Romania before properly analysing if the financial and human resources can be assured to that end. Earlier, the management of the National Penitentiary Agency had announced the institution took note of the demands of trade unions in the penitentiary system, but warned that employees cannot resort to strikes or voluntary suspension of work, although they may organise other forms of protests permitted by law. Prison staff in Romania initiated open-ended protest actions around the country on Monday. They demand, among other things, an improvement in working standards, addressing salary imbalances and a reduction of the personnel shortage, currently put at nearly 8,000 people.



    ROMANIAN MILITARY – The condition of the 4 Romanian troops wounded on Sunday during a mission in Afghanistan is improving, the Romanian Defence Ministry announced on Monday. According to the aforementioned source, the trauma produced by the sustained injuries didnt reach any vital organs. The military were part of the White Sharks Battalion, which ensures the protection of the military base in Kandahar and assists the Afghan security forces. They were wounded when an improvised explosive device went off during their patrol mission, and were taken to the army base hospital in Kandahar.



    NATIONAL INTEGRITY AGENCY – Romanias National Integrity Agency, ANI, on Monday sent a letter to the Standing Bureau of the Chamber of Deputies, asking it to take note of the fact that three MP seats are vacant and the disciplinary procedure has been launched in the case of two other MPs. According to the Agency, MPs Victor Roman, Ion Moldovan and Florin Ionas Urcan have been declared incompatible by the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The rulings are final. The Agency also says two assessment reports in the case of MPs Florin Paslaru and Ion Calin, respectively, show they have infringed the legal regime of conflict of interest. Therefore, in their case, ANI requests the start of disciplinary procedure, in conformity to the Statute of MPs, which provides for decreasing their MP allowances by 10 %, for a maximum period of three months.



    TAXATION – Romanian finance minister, Anca Dragu, has reiterated that no major tax increases will be made during the mandate of the current technocratic cabinet. She has added that all changes made so far were aimed at reducing red tape in the fiscal system. Anca Dragu has also said the institution will no grant any type of financial amnesty. Also, by the recently approved budget revision, the budget deficit is maintained at 2.8% of the GDP, the minister has also said. Anca Dragu participated in the so-called “Hour of the Government, in the Chamber of Deputies on Monday. The ministers presence had been requested by Liberal MPs, who called for clarifications with respect to the changes brought to the Fiscal Code and the prospective instatement of fiscal amnesty.

    FEAST OF MUSIC– RadiRo Festival, the only large-scale European
    event exclusively devoted to radio orchestras, continued on Monday with a
    concert given by the National Radio Orchestra conducted by Cristian Macelaru.
    The soloist was the highly acclaimed cello player Razvan Suma, who was
    accompanied by the Academic Choir and the Radio Children’s Choir. They
    performed Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana,
    one of the best known works of the last century. The festival, organised by
    Radio Romania, comes to an end on
    Saturday, October 1, and the concerts will also be aired live in the European
    Broadcasting Union network and the Asia-Pacific platform of public and private
    radio broadcasters.


    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player, Simona Halep, WTA no.5, on Monday qualified to the eighth finals of the Wuhan Open in China, with 2.5 million dollars in prize money up for grabs. Halep secured qualification, after her opponent and co-national, Irina Begu (WTA no.24) abandoned the match in the second set. This is the fifth match played by the two Romanian players, with Halep winning the four previous matches. (Translated by D. Vijeu)

  • July 25, 2016 UPDATE

    July 25, 2016 UPDATE

    MEETING — Romania’s Supreme Defence Council meet on Tuesday in Bucharest to analyse the way in which Romania’s concerns are reflected in the final documents of the NATO summit of the 8th and 9th of July in Warsaw. The Council will also establish the measures and actions that need to be taken to implement the decisions adopted, the president’s office has said. President Klaus Iohannis said the NATO summit in Warsaw was a success, with all of Romania’s concerns being included in the final documents. These refer to a balancing of the measures taken as part of the country’s new defence and deterrence roles on the eastern flank, the president explained.



    ATTACKS — The death toll following the attacks in Afghanistan has reached a record level this year, according to a UN report. More than 1,600 civilians have been killed and 3,565 wounded in the first half of 2016, the highest number of victims since 2009. According to the report, a third of the victims are children, most of whom were killed in the explosion of makeshift bombs. The United Nations has described the situation as “alarming and shameful”, with the anti-governmental forces being responsible for the death of the highest number of civilians.



    MISSION — The Romanian White Sharks 341st infantry battalion left on Monday for the theatre of operations in Afghanistan. According to the defence ministry in Bucharest, the Romanian military are ready to act as part of the NATO Resolute Support mission to ensure the protection of the military basis in Kandahar and provide counselling to the Afghan security forces. The 341st infantry battalion is an elite unit of the Romanian Army and has so far carried out international missions in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.



    ELECTIONS — The National Liberal Party in Romania has called on the Government to pass an emergency ordinance providing for the setup of a number of polling stations equal to that used in the second round of the 2014 presidential elections, apart from polling stations in embassies and consular offices at the upcoming parliamentary elections in autumn. The Liberals also want for citizens to be able to register by e-mail for the vote. The interest of Romanians in the Diaspora in the legislative elections remains low. Less than three thousand Romanian citizens living abroad have signed up with the Election Registry. 2,000 applications have been sent from Spain and Italy, home to large numbers of Romanians.




    TURKEY – The association of European Magistrates for Democracy and Liberty (MEDEL) urged the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to demand Turkey to free the thousands of judges and prosecutors who were arrested a week ago after the failed coup. The appeal comes as Turkish president Recep Tyyip Erdogan reiterated his support for reintroducing the death penalty if the Turkish people so wish. Erdogan also said he would disregard the position of the European Union in this matter. In another move, Bratislava on Monday played host to an informal meeting of ministers and secretaries of state responsible for European affairs to discuss the situation in Turkey. Romanian State Secretary for European Affairs Cristian Badescu expressed Bucharest’s support for a concerted and effective European response to the challenges of migration, based on a thorough approach, focusing on the enactments of commitments, cooperation with third countries and consolidating the EU’s external borders.



    GERMANY — 12 people were wounded on Sunday night in the German town of Ansbach in a suicide bombing. According to the Bavarian authorities, a 27-year-old Syrian refugee exploded the bomb in front of a building hosting a music festival. Also on Sunday, a Syrian national killed one person and injured two in a machete attack in Baden-Wurttemberg, in south-western Germany. The two incidents occurred against the backdrop of a tense security climate after Friday’s attack in Munich when an 18-year-old Iranian-German national killed 9 people and injured 35. In the fourth attack last week, several passengers were wounded on a train by a young Afghan refugee who used a knife and a hatchet.



    TENNIS – Two Romanian tennis players, world no. 5 Simona Halep, and world no. 61 Monica Niculescu are competing in a tournament in Montreal worth 2.4 million dollars. In the first round, Niculescu faces the Latvian player Jelena Ostapenko. If she qualifies to the next round, she will meet world no. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska. Halep, who goes straight into the second round, will face the winner between Australia’s Daria Gavrilova and Germany’s Annika Beck. Last year, Halep made it to the final in Montreal, from which she pulled out with an injury, reliquinshing the title to the Swiss player Belinda Bencic.



    FOOTBALL — Romania’s football vice-champions Steaua Bucharest on Tuesday take on the Czech side Sparta Prague in an away game, as part of the first leg of the Champions League third preliminary round. As part of the same stage, Romanian champions Astra Giurgiu face the Danish side FC Copenhagen on Wednesday at home. On Thursday, in the first leg of the Europa League third preliminary round, Viitorul Constanta face the Belgian side Gent away, while Pandurii Targu Jiu play at home against the Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv. The third Romanian side playing in the Europa League, CSMS Iasi, were eliminated in the previous round by the Croatian side Hajduk Split.


    (Translated by V. Palcu and C. Mateescu)

  • March 15, 2016 UPDATE

    March 15, 2016 UPDATE

    The European Council on Tuesday hailed, in a communiqué, Romania’s tendency to make significant progress in the field of the judiciary, thus reiterating the conclusions related to the Mechanism for Cooperation and Verification report made public in January. This tendency points to a higher sustainability of reforms, the European Council officials say. According to them, through the measures adopted, the main legal institutions involved in the fight against high level corruption maintained an impressive dynamics. The Council also draws attention to the importance of a wider and unequivocal commitment to reforms by all public institutions and political actors.



    Romania’s Supreme Defense Council met Tuesday in Bucharest, being chaired by the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. The meeting focused on the adoption of urgent measures meant to amend certain laws against the backdrop of increased illegal migration at European level. High on the agenda of talks were the Program for the Romanian Army endowment until 2027, the political developments in the Republic of Moldova, fighting illegal logging from the national forest stock and cyber security. The participants also approved the report on the activity of the Supreme Defense Council for 2015, that will be forwarded to Parliament.



    The European Commissioner for regional policy, Corina Cretu, met Tuesday in Brussels with the Moldovan PM, Pavel Filip. On the occasion, the European Commissioner expressed the support of the European Commission for Moldova’s European accession. The two talked about the efficient use of European funds, in order to consolidate the administrative capacity of the former Soviet Republic, and about Chisinau’s participation in projects included in the Danube Region Strategy. The Romania — Moldova cross-border cooperation program was also on the agenda of the meeting.



    Romania is going through a crucial moment and it is important for it not to slow down the pace of fiscal consolidation or pay less attention to financial stability, the governor of the National Bank of Romania, Mugur Isarescu, said in Bucharest on Tuesday. According to the central bank governor, the country is running the risk of losing, to a certain extent, the progress it has made and needs legislative stability and clear laws, which should not create confusion. The convergence to the Euro zone can be a beneficial process, a catalyst of reforms says the central bank governor. In another move, the country’s reserves have increased by 6 billion Euros, and the country has paid back the money to the IMF, he underlined. Mugur Isarescu has admitted that many people and medium sized companies are going through difficult times and he said the GDP would be higher if the country had a better infrastructure.



    Including Romania in the Visa Waiver Program is one of Bucharest’s priorities in the relation with Washington and there are lots of members of the US Congress who favour the idea, said Romania’s Ambassador to the US George Cristian Maior in an interview carried on Monday by Agerpress news agency. He stated that the partnership between Romania and the USA is a very good one, politically, economically and also with regard to security, and, no matter who will hold the reigns of power in the US in the future, either the Republicans or the Democrats, the grounds have been set for this partnership to keep on going well and deal with all the challenges posed by the realities of the 21st century. Domestically, Romania is a very cohesive state and with a clearly set strategic line when it comes to its foreign policy, and all these strengths must be used in reaching its diplomatic, political, economic and military interests, the Romanian ambassador has also stated.



    A cell crisis has been activated within the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, following the car crash in Turkey, in which two Romanian tourists died. 11 Romanians are still in hospital, the Foreign Ministry informs. The Romanian Presidency and Foreign Ministry have sent condolences to the grieving families and have given assurances that all the Romanian citizens affected are properly taken care of. The most serious accident of this type occurred in June 2013, when a coach full of Romanian tourists crashed into a 40 m precipice. 18 people died then, and 29 were injured. (news translated by Lacramioara Simion and Diana Vijeu)

  • Supreme Defence Council Decisions

    Supreme Defence Council Decisions

    The region’s security and Romania’s ability to cope with security challenges were the main topics discussed on Tuesday at a meeting of the Supreme Defence Council, the first since president Klaus Iohannis took office in December. The Council looked mainly at the conflict in the neighbouring Ukraine and its consequences for the region and reiterated Romania’s commitments as part of its strategic partnerships. The progress made by the states in the Western Balkans with regard to their European Union aspirations was also noted.



    One conclusion was that this region should be included in a general strategy on South-Eastern Europe that would strengthen Romania’s strategic role in the area. The Supreme Defence Council also agreed that the increase in the defence budget to reach 2% of the GDP by 2017 would give a new boost to some major programmes on the equipping of the army and provide a clear opportunity for the defence industry. Another decision taken by the Council refers to the participation of four F16 planes and 150 army troops and civilian staff from the Portuguese army in NATO air-policing missions carried out in Romania in May and June.



    In another development, the FBI director James Comey travelled to Bucharest to discuss the collaboration between the Romanian Intelligence Service and the FBI, whose main priorities are the fight against corruption and cyber security. The existing partnership between the two institutions has resulted in recent years in training exchanges for experts, as well as joint operations. The director of the Romanian Intelligence Service Eduard Hellvig said the consolidation of the rule of law was all the more important given the crises in the region. He added that it was equally important to combat activities that weaken the state from the inside, corruption in particular.



    Eduard Hellvig: “The cyber space is becoming more and more important as far as security is concerned, whether it’s online crime, cyber terrorism or cyber espionage. To be able to cope with the fast progress of communications technologies we will have to make sure we have the human, technological and last but not least, legal resources needed to carry out our mission.”



    The fight against the existing threats can no longer be conducted solely from within a given country, but has to take on an international dimension, FBI head James Comey said. He said the FBI is making efforts alongside its Romanian colleagues to identify and indict the known cyber criminals, guilty of hoaxing thousands of people all around the world. An important aspect of the cooperation between the FBI and the Romanian Intelligence Service according to Comey is the constant exchange of useful information on counterespionage, combating corruption and transnational organised crime.



    Since 2013, the FBI has been providing Romanian officers with training on crisis management, law enforcement, the diffusion of improvised explosive devices and the prevention of illegal traffic of nuclear and radioactive materials.